Posts Tagged ‘Doyle New Zealand’

In the fastest Vendee Globe in history, after 74 days at sea Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss has taken out second place, gaining a coveted podium space and finishing just 16 hours behind race winner Armel Le Cléac’h on Banque Populaire. This is Thomson’s second consecutive podium finish in the Vendee Globe, considered the toughest sailing race on earth, after finishing third in the 2012-2013 edition.

Doyle Sails is extremely proud of their involvement in Thomson’s campaign as sail supplier to Hugo Boss. “We have lived and breathed every minute of this race and we think Alex has done an incredible job,” says Mike Sanderson, CEO of Doyle Sails New Zealand. “We’re so proud of what Alex has done in so many ways and are pleased to have played our part in helping him achieve this amazing result.”

Arriving into Les Sables-d’Olonne after completing the race in 74 days 19 hours 35 minutes and 15 seconds, Thomson provided a nailbiting race throughout with highs and lows and first place all to play for right until the final stages. Having lead the race for most of the early stages Thomson suffered a huge blow when he damaged his starboard foil on the 19 November 2016, limiting the boat’s performance when on the port tack and costing him an approximate 20% of the boat’s speed. Despite this setback he continued to push, keeping constant pressure on Le Cléac’h until the very end, maintaining a formidable drag race over the final week and finishing just hours apart – an incredible feat in a race spanning over two months at sea.

During his 74-day race Thomson broke a number of significant records along the way including the world record for greatest distance sailed solo in 24 hours, with an average speed of 22.4knots, made all the more impressive as this record was set in the final few days of the race. Thomson also set two new race records in one day, for the fastest time to reach the Cape of Good Hope, completing this stretch in 17 days 22 hours and 58 minutes (5 days and 48 minutes faster than the previous record) and for the fastest time from the Equator to the Cape of Good Hope, passing in 8 days, 15 hours and 56 minutes (previous record 12 days, 2 hours and 40 minutes). Thomson is now also the fastest Briton to circumnavigate the globe on a monohull, beating his own record set in 2012/2013.

Throughout the race Thomson has paid tribute to his sail inventory, citing it as a key influence to his performance during the circumnavigation and one of his main advantages over the other competitors. “Aside from our foils the one place where we are completely different to the other IMOCA 60’s is our sails, which obviously play a huge part in this race,” says Thomson. “The Stratis product lends itself brilliantly and I would be very surprised if anyone has anything as light and as durable as we have; if you want something different, something fast, if you want an edge, it is best not follow the crowd.”

Hugo Boss carries a full suit of Doyle Stratis ICE sails as part of a long term relationship between Doyle Sails New Zealand and Alex Thomson Racing. Thomson and his team worked closely over several years with Richard Bouzaid, Head of Design at Doyle Sails New Zealand, to develop the inventory carried by Hugo Boss. Doyle’s involvement included extensive sail design team input during the design phase of both the boat and aero package as well as significant on-the-ground support during the construction and sail trial phase of Hugo Boss, and Thomson believes the time invested has paid significant dividends in the result of the race. “The sail plan that Richard developed for us has made a big difference and is the reason I was able to stay at the front of this race with the others after we lost the foil, says Thomson. “I appreciate all the work the team has done; Richard cares, he seriously cares, about this campaign and he put a lot of his time and effort into it and we wouldn’t be where we are without him.”

“It’s hard to say enough really of what Alex – and all the sailors in this race – have achieved; it’s been a privilege to work with him and his team over these two race cycles and I’m excited for the future,” says Bouzaid. “After careful consideration of the new IMOCA 60 rule we developed a different sail combination than presumed, different to the other teams, and that in combination with the whole approach we’ve taken together over the last eight years, has helped achieve this great result. The cool thing is that this is just the beginning.”

As well as the sail configuration itself Thomson is full of praise for the durability and reliability of his Doyle sails. “In terms of performance, even after nearly 75 days at sea in these hugely challenging conditions my sails are still like they are brand new,” he says “The reliability of the product is just brilliant and I think that’s where Doyle really are different to everyone else and it’s a big reason why we choose to work with Doyle – it’s the service, product and the relationships and the fact the team really cares and brings significant added value to the campaign.”

With the first of the competitors now safely back in port the race continues. Hungarian sailor Nandor Fa on Spirit of Hungary, also powered by a Doyle STRATIS inventory, is currently lying in eighth place, over 500nm ahead of his nearest rival, in another testament to the durability and performance of a Doyle inventory. “We’re so pleased to have worked with both Alex and Nandor and hope to keep showing that when it comes to high performance sails there is an alternative choice,” says Sanderson.

It’s no surprise to us that Alex Thomson is managing to stay on the tail of the leading three boats in the 2012 Vendee Globe despite sailing a boat that’s been around for half a decade; after all, at least one of our prognosticators picked him to win the thing outright. Is he just that fast, or does he have another secret?

We grabbed Doyle Sails New Zealand boss Chris McMaster just before the start of the race to explain why Alex is the only sailor in the fleet not sailing with North or Incidences sails. Chris has plenty to say about their development program, and it’s a good look at one of the one of the most important decisions a round-the-world racer makes.

Doyle Sailmakers is proud to announce that they have been selected as the sails supplier of choice for Project 392, the 46.4m high performance cruising ketch, in build at Royal Huisman.

“Project 392 is a highly optimized performance design, which makes Stratis sails the perfect fit for this project,” said Mike Sanderson, Director of Sales for Doyle Sailmakers New Zealand, sole suppliers of Stratis laminates to the Doyle Group of Sailmakers. “The Stratis range was designed specifically with performance cruising and racing superyachts in mind and is ideally suited to this innovative ketch.”

For 392, Stratis will continue in their established superyacht aero programme with Southern Spars, having previously collaborated on projects including the newly launched 50m-performance sloop Ohana and the 58.4m-sloop Kokomo III amongst others.

“Not only are we proud to be working on such an exciting project, but it is a pleasure to be working directly with Royal Huisman for the first time, and to collaborate with the Hoek Design office once again,” said Sanderson. “It is also great to have the opportunity to work with Allan Prior of LLC Yacht Management and Jeremy Pochman.”

About Doyle Stratis

Doyle Stratis was developed in 2001-2002 when Doyle Sails realized that it was time for a new generation of sails. Designed with superyachts in mind, Stratis sails are the ultimate choice for performance yachts.

Stratis pre-impregnated fibre technology provides unmatched flexibility in fiber orientation, accuracy of placement and superior lamination. All fibers are load bearing, converging to every load point on the sail. This layout produces stronger, lighter sails that are much smoother when set. The sails hold their shape better with significantly less stretch and will last longer than conventional panel sails.

Doyle Sailmakers is continually developing its laminated sail products in terms of design, development and manufacture. Our research department continues to experiment with new fibers, adhesives and techniques with the aim of offering our clients the best product possible while our design department uses the latest computer technology and design tools to develop shapes and structures for faster sails.

Michael Hiatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll. Living Doll recently took delivery of a full inshore racing inventory of Doyle Stratis GPx sails

One of Australia’s highest profile and most successful racing campaigns is Michael Hiatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll. Living Doll recently took delivery of a full inshore racing inventory of Doyle Stratis GPx sails.

Michael gave us some feedback after the boats first regatta with the new Doyle sails:

“After deciding to invest in a full Doyle New Zealand inventory for the Living Doll, no one could be happier. The work spent in the design phase was time well spent, all the sails were used right out of the bag, and they all fitted perfectly.

“The performance gain in the boat was night and day from previous regattas. Having Richard Bouzaid, and Mike Sanderson sailing with us not only lifted the intensity of the sailing on board, but also gave everyone a huge insight into the level of detail that goes into these sails, trim and rigs. The sail shape analysis that was done throughout the regatta by Richard after sailing each day, comparing race trim photos to the designed sail shapes, gave the team a good base to discuss modes, trim, areas to improve etc.

Congratulations to Doyle customers Joe Brownley on Shokran and Ed Crook on Strathspey for their wins in the Farr 1020 Nationals held April 21-22, 2012.

Shokran was the overall winner this year and showed impressive speed and consistency in the often frustrating conditions to record their win. And congratulations to Strathspey who took the handicap title.

Both boats sported Doyle inventories, including Doyle Stratis Genoas. Shokran has the GPx, Carbon/Technora, Race Genoa with a clear Film/Film laminate. While Strathspey has the GPc, All Kevlar Genoa, with a single layer of Taffeta for improved durability.

Congratulations again to both Joe & Ed for their impressive results!

The Farr 1020 is a one design 10.2 meter racing/cruising keelboat that originated from the drawing board of Bruce Farr in 1983. The Farr 1020 is a recognized National Keelboat class in New Zealand. While most of the over 150 Farr 1020’s built are located in New Zealand, a number can also be found in Australia, the Pacific Islands and the United States.

Stratis GPx sails from Doyle Sails New Zealand have been chosen to power Team Sanya around the globe in the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Mike Sanderson, skipper of Team Sanya and director of Doyle Sails New Zealand; “It was an easy decision for Team Sanya to make, notwithstanding the fact that I have a boot in both camps!

“The tremendous results that we are achieving with Stratis sails now in terms of both performance and durability certainly give me a lot of confidence and comfort going into the race. The Team and I will be working with Richard Bouzaid and the rest of the Doyle Sails design team in New Zealand to develop the optimum wardrobe for the race. The sail programme has been made all that much harder for this lap compared to any of my others because the boats will be carrying so few sails on board and they get replaced less frequently as well!”

Mike Sanderson’s sailing CV certainly makes him very well qualified to make a rational decision on sails to match the task ahead. Being a sailmaker by trade, having wins in two previous Volvo Ocean races as well as transatlantic and 24 hr speed records under his belt, Mike knows that as well as being fast, the sails have to be engineered and built with an extreme level of durability, particularly as sail wardrobes are so limited for the race.

“I think that the properties of Stratis make it ideal for the application, and with the practical expertise of the design team behind us, we are very excited about taking delivery of our first set of sails.”